FADING LIKE SMOKE

The tobacco wars continue to take their toll on supermarket retailers, who find it hard to sell cigarettes and related products in a charged environment of heavy taxation and government regulation.Six months ago, Mad Butcher senior vice president Roger Burks called a meeting of his store managers to report that, nearly overnight, sales of an entire department had gone up in smoke. Rising prices, coupled

The tobacco wars continue to take their toll on supermarket retailers, who find it hard to sell cigarettes and related products in a charged environment of heavy taxation and government regulation.

Six months ago, Mad Butcher senior vice president Roger Burks called a meeting of his store managers to report that, nearly overnight, sales of an entire department had gone up in smoke. Rising prices, coupled with increased state and federal regulations, caused cigarette sales at the chain